Fresh leaks of radioactive water in Japan

WORKERS discovered new pools of radioactive water leaking from Japan’s crippled nuclear complex as emergency crews struggled to pump out hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water and bring the plant back under control.

Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex, and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater.

The Fukushima power plant, 220 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, was crippled on March 11 when a tsunami spawned by a powerful earthquake slammed into Japan’s northeastern coast.

The huge wave engulfed much of the complex, and destroyed the crucial power systems needed to cool the complex’s nuclear fuel rods.

Since then, three of its six units are believed to have partially melted down, and emergency crews have struggled with everything from malfunctioning pumps to dangerous spikes in radiation that have forced temporary evacuations.

Confusion at the plant has intensified fears that the nuclear crisis will last weeks, months or years amid alarms over radiation making its way into produce, raw milk and even Tokyo’s tap water.

The troubles at the complex is still well short of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which killed at least 31 people with radiation sickness, raised long-term cancer rates, and spewed radiation for hundreds of kilometres.

While parts of the plant have been reconnected to the power grid, the contaminated water — which has been found in numerous places at the complex — must be pumped out before electricity can be restored to the cooling system.

That has left officials struggling with two sometimes contradictory efforts: pumping in water to keep the fuel rods cool and pumping out and then safely storing, contaminated water.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, called that balance “very delicate work.”

He also said workers were still looking for safe ways to store the radioactive water.

The build-up of radioactive water first became a problem last week, when it splashed over the boots of two workers, burning them and prompting a temporary suspension of work.

Then, officials with Tokyo Electric Power said workers had found more radioactive water in deep trenches used for pipes and electrical wiring outside three units. The water has been emitting radiation exposures more than four times the amount that the government considers safe for workers.

The five workers in the area at the time were not hurt, said TEPCO spokesman Takashi Kurita.

Many suspect it is cooling water that has leaked from one of the disabled reactors.

It could take weeks to pump out the radioactive water, said Gary Was, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan. “Battling the contamination so workers can work there is going to be an ongoing problem.”

Meanwhile, new readings showed ocean contamination had spread about 1.5km farther north of the nuclear site than before but is still within the 20km radius of the evacuation zone. Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered offshore at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Nishiyama said.

Amid reports that people had been sneaking back into the mandatory evacuation zone around the nuclear complex, the chief government spokesman again urged residents to stay out. Yukio Edano said contaminants posed a “big” health risk in that area.